Frying Pan/Fire

Good news/bad news for Tom Delay:

A judge dismissed the conspiracy charges Monday against Rep. Tom DeLay but refused to throw out the money-laundering counts, dashing the Texas congressman’s hopes for now of reclaiming his post as House majority leader. Judge Pat Priest, who is presiding over the case against the Republican, issued the ruling after a hearing late last month in which DeLay’s attorney argued that the indictment was fatally flawed.

Conspiracy charges are usually meaningless; they’re what the DA nails you with when he doesn’t have anything else. But the money-laundering charge stuck, and that’s a “real” charge. So Delay could be in real trouble.

And that troubles me about as much as Trent Lott’s troubles from three years ago.